How to Cheat at Chess: Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Chess But Were Afraid to Ask

by William Hartston

Book Overview

Expose of chess-players' manners tells you everything you wanted to know about the game but were afraid to ask - and perhaps a few things more. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1857440994
• ISBN13: 9781857440997
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Cadogan Books
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.8" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Bravo!

Ideal for cowardly, dishonest chess players.

Humor much needed by serious players

Chapter 1 is entitled But You Can't Cheat at Chess. Yet tournament players will recognize some of the dirty tricks recommended here, and practiced by occasional opponents, in competitions. Chapter 4, entitled Friendly Games, consists entirely of the admonition "There is no such thing as a friendly game of chess." The full-length Chapter 5, "Friendly" Games, sets the record straight. The book suggests playing in the center or on the wings, depending on whether your opponent's eyes are far apart or close together, and deep in your opponent's territory or close to home, depending on whether he has long or short arms. At one point the author recommends the move Pawn to King's Rook Three-and-Three-Fourths, so that it can be j'adoubed back to the third rank if it turns out to be vulnerable on the fourth. The penultimate chapter describes how to be a chess journalist, by applying such hackneyed annotations as "Note how naturally White's moves flow from the characteristics of the position" to a ridiculous move played in the middle of a ridiculous game. This book is not for serious competitors, but for those with a sense of humor. It's hilarious.

A great deal of fun to read.

Loved it! This isn't really a chess book but a humor but a humor book about chess. Although it does teach something on how to cheat at chess, the most important thing in the book are the jokes, which might sometimes be a bit stupid but are always very funny. Read the chapter on friendly games